The PFS board is considering ‘options for alternative legal structures’, which could pave the way for the professional body to break away from the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII).
The board is also seeking clarity over the CII’s ailing financial situation, which has seen the institute rely on £16.7m in PFS revenue to prop up its cash reserves over the last few years.
In July, following deregistration backlash from PFS members during the CII’s AGM, the CII announced it will be undertaking a consultation to seek the opinions of PFS members on deregistration and other issues. The consultation, which you can read in full here, was published today and will seek adviser responses in the coming weeks.
In a response to the consultation today, PFS president Sarah Lord (pictured) said in a notice on the PFS website that the board is ‘disappointed’ that the CII did not engage with the professional body before the society published its consultation for members.
The PFS said it will now ‘consider options for alternative legal structures which will better protect and promote the interests of PFS members and the public we serve’. No details on what these alternative legal structures were given, but a pressure group is calling for the PFS to break away from the CII as its parent organisation.
‘The PFS board regrets that the CII did not engage with the PFS board collectively on the drafting of the consultation document and the CII did not bring the document to the PFS board for input,’ Lord said.
‘The PFS board believes in the light of the CII board’s attempt to deregister the company that the status quo is no longer an option and welcomes the implicit recognition of this in the consultation document. We encourage all members to contribute their views on the relationship of the PFS and the CII by responding to the consultation.’
Steps will also be taken to achieve clarity on the current financial position of the CII group to ensure that the reserves accumulated from PFS members’ subscriptions and other activities are used solely for the purposes set out in the PFS members, the PFS said.
At the start of 2021, the CII had cash reserves of £34.3m. However, £16.7m of those reserves is PFS member revenue, which is ‘on loan’ to the institute.
Lord also hit out at the CII’s education and qualification standards in recent years.
‘The PFS board is disappointed that over the last few years the CII’s education offering, including the qualification framework and pathways has not kept pace with the needs of the profession and welcomes the opportunity for PFS members to input their views on improvements now necessary,’ she said.
In response to Lord’s statement, CII CEO Sian Fisher said: ‘We want our members and students to share their experience of our services and support by engaging with the shaping the future together consultation.
‘We want to hear about the things that work well and those areas where we could improve or do things differently too. Our vision for learning and assessment is to deliver world-class learning and qualifications that develop and recognise the practitioner of the future.’
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